Page 66 of Never Kiss Your Neighbors

It’s not really anything that special, just dinner in a private dining room at a downtown hotel restaurant, but when we’re seated around the intimate table for three, Stella’s eyes dance around, taking in the fancy table settings, the black and gold decor, and most of all, the sparkling view of the city beneath us.

“This is beautiful,” she coos.

We’ve positioned her so that she has a view of the skyline, and we have the better view—of her.

She looks incredible tonight, but then, she always does. I like dressed-up Stella, Stella in sweats and a ponytail, and especially Stella in nothing at all.

I forcefully redirect my thoughts to the menu, otherwise my erection will be bumping into the table and upsetting the shiny glassware.

After the wine waiter leaves the room, Stella comments that there are no prices on the menu.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “Order whatever you want.”

“You’re always treating me, and I’m starting to feel weird about it.”

“There’s no need to feel that way,” Wyatt says. “We can afford it, and we want to take good care of you.”

“Our channel makes good money, that’s why it’s hard to let it go,” I explain.

“Oh? Do you want to let it go? I remember you saying you don’t plan to do it forever.”

A waiter brings in an amuse-bouche, telling us they’re caviar and crème fraîche tartlets, before leaving us alone again.

“Here’s another first for me,” Stella says when she raises one of the bites to her lips. After she tastes it and her nose crinkles, she says, “And maybe a last. I don’t think caviar is my thing.”

“Did you know that female sturgeons, who produce caviar, can live up to 150 years?” I say.

“Sure, Cam, everyone knows that,” Wyatt says, and Stella giggles.

She takes a sip of wine, probably to wash away the fish flavor, then asks us, “Why, if you can afford meals like this, do you live in such a modest neighborhood?”

“We like meeting women over our back fence,” Wyatt says.

“We like the neighborhood,” I tell her, “and we wanted to focus on building up our savings accounts and investing the money we earned.”

She nods, looking impressed, then asks, “How did you get into the work you do?”

“We started out making videos to appeal to all ages. Family-friendly stuff was our original intention,” Wyatt tells her.

“But we didn’t have much of a plan or a solid direction for our channel,” I say. “In one of our reels, Wyatt’s arms were prominent, and that caught the attention of female fans. Because our channel wasn’t growing as quickly as we wanted, we decided to lean into the female fanbase. We started subtly showing more muscle?—”

“And then less subtly,” Wyatt adds.

“Eventually, it became all about that,” I explain, “though we wanted to keep ourselves entertained while we were doing it, and stand apart from all the guys making workout videos and doing pull-ups, so we kept building fun things and setting up oddball challenges.”

“But we’re making plans to leave all the thirst trap stuff behind,” Wyatt says. “We’re planning to transition back to the family-friendly content we originally intended.”

“I think kids would really enjoy watching the type of stunts and games you do,” Stella says.

I fish in the bread basket and pull out a roll. “That’s the goal, but we need to find a different audience, so the comments section stays family-friendly, too.”

The knowing and somewhat uneasy look on Stella’s face tells me that she’s read the comments.

“So, if all goes well, it’ll be little kids swarming you when you’re out, rather than women? You’ll have to wear disguises when you go to Disneyland.”

“We’ll be lucky if we can get a new channel to catch on. That's why it’s risky to make the change,” I say.

“I think you should do whatever you feel you’d like best, because I’m sure you’ll succeed in any direction you set your mind to. I know one kid who loves you, as you can probably tell.”

---